Before the Dawn
by jennamarie
Summary: Bella faces a new threat, one that even Edward can save her from. What is the right decision?
1. Chapter 1

This is my first trip into the lovely world created by Stephenie Meyer, I own nothing. No offence or profit intended.

**Before the Dawn**

I could feel my death approaching, silent and undeniable. The room around me blurred as my eyes slipped out of focus.

I wondered what it would feel like, if it would hurt to die, what would be that last thing to flash before my eyes before I was lost to oblivion? I knew what I wanted, just one last glimpse of his angel's face.

Something cold and hard touched my cheek and I blinked rapidly until I was able to see the tawny eyes gazing down on me.

"Bella," Carlisle leaned close, his lips near my ear. "I will change you if you wish it, right now."

I smiled my gratitude at him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

"Bella!"

I flinched and ducked deeper into my hiding spot.

"Bella, you know I know where you are, I've seen you coming out. Give in gracefully already, you are going to address these invitations!"

I made a face at nothing in particular; no one could see me underneath Carlisle's desk anyway. I hadn't forgotten about Alice's precognitive abilities, I had just hoped that maybe this time I would be able to slip through the cracks. With my luck I should have known better.

"Bella!"

"Alright, alright!" I groaned, crawling out from the kneehole of the desk where I had taken refuge. "I'll write the darned things already. What happened to not going overboard?" I had seen the massive stack of wedding invitations sitting on the dinning room table when I had entered the Cullen's house that afternoon, all waiting for my personal touch. Hence my hiding.

"I'm not going overboard!" Alice protested. "There are only 83 invitations to address. I narrowed it down after Edward suggested that the 250 I had originally, was a little excessive."

250? The thought was nearly enough to get me hyperventilating. Did I even know that many people?

Alice sighed at my expression. "Come on Bella, let's go over the guest list and maybe I'll let you narrow it down a little more…" She reached out her hand for me.

I took her hand and allowed her to pull me gently from Carlisle's office. "Alice…" I whined, hoping for some shred of pity, "you know the only people I want there are your family, Charlie, Renee and maybe…"

A sharp pain ricocheted through my head from temple to temple; I stumbled and would have fallen if Alice's hands hadn't suddenly been griping my upper arms, holding me upright.

"Bella? Are you alright?" Alice asked, sounding concerned.

But the pain had passed as suddenly as it appeared. I shook my head experimentally, it felt fine again. "Um, yeah, fine. Just stress I guess."

Alice's gaze drifted far away for a moment, then she looked crestfallen. "And you're going to use that as an excuse to maim my guest list; and I'm going to let you." She sighed in defeat. "I suppose it's my turn to give in gracefully."

I grinned wickedly, the momentary flash of pain forgotten. "Then let's get to the maiming!" This time I took the lead, tugging on Alice's cold hand, dragging her towards the stairs.

"It's good to see you enthusiastic about something," she muttered under her breath, barely audible.

"I still don't see why I have to do the addressing." I complained trying to keep Alice distracted so she wouldn't think of another way to invite dozens of people I didn't know to my wedding. "Edward's writing is so much, nicer than mine." Now that was an understatement, like everything else about Edward, his calligraphy was perfect.

I sat down at the dinning room table and pulled Alice's list towards me and started to cross out names, trying to ignore Alice's look of dismay. My mind wandered to the upcoming event. My wedding. I couldn't suppress an inward shiver at the thought. Weddings, to my point of view, were a dangerous thing to do to a relationship. Romeo and Juliet got married and look what happened to them; think how much happier they would have been if they had simply run off together the moment they met! My own parents were living examples that marriages were not built to last, thought to be fair, I doubt that running away together would have helped them much. Still, it was enough to sour me on the idea of the whole 'chapel of love' thing.

But for Edward, for Edward I would do anything, even walk down an aisle on Charlie's arm wearing the lovely old-style dress currently hanging in Alice's closet. I would vow to love, honour and cherish, I wasn't sure about the obey part, until death do we part.

"Bella, don't cross off all the names!"

I looked up and suffered a small measure of guilt at the pleading look on Alice's face. I was ruining all her fun. Looking down I saw that there were maybe 20 names left on the list. I put down the pen.

"Have you and Jasper ever had a wedding?" I asked

She flashed me a smile as she moved the list and the pen out of my reach. "Yes, twice now. But I imagine it's not quite the same experience."

"And Rosalie and Emmett?"

"I believe they had a wedding just before Jasper and I joined the family," she pursed her lips, thinking, "and twice after."

"So why all this fuss about my wedding?"

"Because it's your first!" she gushed. "It's special, and it will be a memory of your life that you can hang on to later… something that we never had."

I was about to comment on that when my stomach growled and I looked up at the clock. Crap. "I'd better be getting home," I muttered, getting to my feet. "Charlie's going to be home soon, and I'd like to have dinner ready for him."

Alice nodded, a little sadly and led the way to the door.

"Car or run?" she asked.

I checked my watch. "Better run, it's really getting late."

Alice shifted me on to her back and took off. I held on tight and closed my eyes. I felt more comfortable running with Edward, but I trusted Alice. I just hoped that on one would see us; I was a full two inches taller than she was and I knew we must look ridiculous with me clinging to her back. Still, it only took a quarter of the time that it would have taken to drive from the Cullen's house to Charlie's, and I did want to keep Charlie as happy as possible.

Charlie had not taken the engagement and news of the impending wedding well. I'm pretty sure most of Seattle had heard his opinion as he ranted about 'too young' and 'irresponsible', 'what are you thinking?' came out several times. Only three things seemed to pacify him. First, the fact that I wanted him to walk me down the aisle. Well, I didn't really want a wedding at all, but if I was going to go through with it, I wanted Charlie there. Second; I still had every intention of going to school, or at least as much intention as I had before the wedding had become a factor. And third, I truly loved Edward. As much as Charlie may have loathed him at that moment, he wasn't blind!

I was just glad he hadn't asked the one question I'd been so sure he would ask.

_What about Jacob?_

That send a pain through my heart, a regret that I would carry with me until the end of time.

_What about Jacob?_

But Charlie didn't ask, and in the weeks until the wedding, I would do everything in my power to pacify him, and hopefully he would never ask.

Because I had no answer.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the delay, I had hoped to post this story much quicker, but I got rather distracted by the release of 'Breaking Dawn', and had to stop to read it a few times, then the whole series again from the beginning. This whole exercise seems rather trite with the new release, but I'm gonna finish it anyways…

**Chapter 3**

I woke up the next to morning realizing two things simultaneously; Edward was reclined beside me in my bed watching me sleep, and my head was throbbing. I rolled and snuggled into Edward, pressing my forehead against his cold side. I sighed as the throbbing eased.

"Good morning Bella."

I felt the smile forming on my lips as the sound of his velvet voice washed over me. I pressed tighter to his side and muttered something that might have been 'good morning' if his shirt hadn't muffled it.

He chuckled lightly and brushed my hair back from my face. "Do you have any plans for today?"

I groaned. "What kind of hideous torture do they have planned for me today?"

"Flowers," Edward told me. "Come Bella, it's not so terrible, is it?"

"You heard the phrase 'hideous torture' right?"

"I did," he acknowledged. I could hear the laughter in his voice. "I just think you may be exaggerating a little."

"Not likely…" I grumbled as I pushed myself up into a sitting position and stopped still as a flash of pain shot through my head and the world went a bright, vivid red.

"Bella?"

Cold arms wrapped gently around me. I blinked. Still red.

"Bella?" Edward was beginning to sound concerned.

And then it was over. The red was gone and my room looked as normal as always. The pain in my head sank back into a dull throbbing. I pressed the heel of my hand do my forehead. "Whoa, that was weird."

"What's wrong? Bella?"

"Just a headache." I shook my head lightly to clear it, but stopped immediately when the throbbing increased. Lights sparkled before my eyes.

"Are you alright?"

The throbbing died back down again. "Yeah, I'll take some aspirin and I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

I gave him a reassuring smile. "Sure I'm sure. Headaches are a common human thing, so common that they sell aspirin over the counter."

I felt him relax slightly to my teasing. "If you are sure," he said, still a little doubtful.

"I am," I said pulling away from him. "But I think it's time for a human moment."

He chuckled and helped me to my feet. "Very well, I'll meet you downstairs."

I nodded, carefully, and headed for the bathroom. Washing quickly, I checked the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of aspirin. Shaking two of the pills out onto my hand I swallowed them, washing them down with water from the tap.

I could hear Charlie stirring as I headed back to my room to get dressed. I could still hear him in there a few minutes later when I headed downstairs.

"Bella?" he called out as I passed down the hallway.

"Yeah, dad, it's me." Right, who else would it be? Well, I suppose there were a few other options, but none of them would have made any noise.

"Do you have plans today?"

I cocked my head to the side, and regretted it instantly, still, hadn't I heard that question already today? "Um, yeah dad. Alice and Esme are taking me out to look at flowers." I was insanely proud that I had said the whole sentence without choking or gagging. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing." Charlie sounded disappointed. I was immediately on guard.

"Dad?"

"I was just going out to La Push to spend the day with Billy; I was thinking maybe you'd like to come along."

It took me several moments to swallow my heart that had leapt up into my throat before I could answer. "I'm sorry dad, I really do have plans." I was suddenly obscenely grateful that Esme and Alice wanted to spend the day picking between roses and lilies. "Maybe another time." Not likely, I doubted Jacob would ever want to see me again. That thought hurt down to my toes.

"Alright then, maybe some other time."

"Sure dad." I grimaced. Charlie had sounded regretful, I would have to double my efforts to keep him happy, and convinced of my happiness, and I had no idea how to do that.

I was saved from any continuance of the conversation by the knock at the door. My unintentional knight in shining armour, saving me from awkward moments, or possibly intentional, depending on how good his hearing was, or what may have been in Charlie's mind. I ran down the stairs and threw open the door, throwing myself into Edward's arms as if it had been years since I'd last seen him and not just minutes. My head protested the movement, but I ignored it.

Edward laughed softly and kissed my forehead. "Enthusiastic today, aren't we?"

I grinned. "Always with you, you're the best part of my life."

There was a momentary flash of pain in his eyes, and I knew what caused it. I wish he would stop thinking like that, that when he kept his promise and made me what he was; he would be destroying my soul and my chances of a hereafter. It made me want to kick him. Life, death, and anything that could possibly follow would mean nothing to me without him; I'd already had a taste of what that was like.

But the pain was buried and he pulled me tight to him pressing his face into my hair. "And you're the most important part of mine."

"Ahem."

Edward's arms loosened from around me and I turned to see Charlie observing us from the stairway.

"Good morning Charlie." Edward greeted politely.

Charlie ignored him. It seemed to be his method of dealing with the fact that Edward was to become my future husband, as if he felt he could no longer be rude or derisive with him as he had been, so he had settled for pretending Edward didn't exist at all. At odd times I thought this was rather amusing. I had a vivid mental image of Charlie walking me down the aisle, the preacher asking 'who gives this woman away' and Charlie looking around in confusion while asking 'to who?'.

"Have you eaten anything yet Bella?" Charlie asked me.

"Not yet," I grinned. "We'll pick something up before we get to the house. I'm sure Alice wants to get an early start." At the mention of Alice, Edward snorted and Charlie melted.

"Okay Bells, you have a good day."

Edward led me to the passenger side of his shiny silver Volvo. I got in reluctantly, and made sure I was buckled in before he pulled the car out onto the road.

"So what's this I heard about you hiding under desks?"

"Just drive the bloody car." I ground out, keeping my eyes on the road.

The shopping trip with Esme and Alice was not the traumatic experience I had been expecting. They did drag me into at least a half dozen different florists, but after getting an official colour scheme from me, (whatever you want, just please, not orange or red) they were happy to let me sit in the background while they argued with different attendants about arrangements, colours, size, shape, and everything else. The only thing they didn't argue about was price. I tried, once. After being forcefully shot down, Alice and Esme made a team that beat all comers, I left them to it. I really had no opinion weather or not baby's breath was an essential part of a bouquet.

The only thing that truly annoyed me as the day progressed was that the headache that I had woken up with didn't go away. I found that if I moved too fast, or jerked my head sharply I would see sparkles in front of my eyes. It was rather disturbing. I decided that if it didn't get better by the next day that I would do something about it.

Alice gave me an odd look when I came to that decision; I gave her an innocent smile and went to look at the roses.


End file.
